Global stocks sink as AI slowdown fears follow Democrats' midterm victory

Nasdaq posts worst day in 19 months as chip shares lead sell-off

European stock markets fell sharply on Friday as a rout in United States technology stocks spread across the Atlantic, after the Democrats’ victory in the country’s midterm elections stoked fears of a slowdown in the artificial intelligence industry. The FTSE 100, which tracks blue-chip shares listed in London, opened down 1.5%, or 166 points, at 10,615.

The sell-off began on Wall Street on Thursday, swept through Asian markets on Friday morning and then reached Europe. Germany’s Dax index opened down 1.5%, France’s Cac 40 dropped 1.2% and Spain’s Ibex fell 1.1%.

On the FTSE 100, the pharmaceuticals company AstraZeneca opened down 2.8%, the biggest faller. IAG, the owner of British Airways and Iberia, fell 1.5% after missing profit forecasts in a trading update, and the miners Antofagasta and Anglo American were also among the big fallers.

Susannah Streeter, the chief investment strategist at Wealth Club, said the tech sell-off had “intensified, with the pain of the brutal sell-off on Wall Street carried straight through to Asia and knocking sentiment in Europe.”

“Big worries are colliding,” Streeter said, pointing to a datacentre build-out that “looks set to slow, which risks shredding the spending spree underpinning the boom, right at the time that investors have become super nervous about returns on this massive investment.”

The Nasdaq share index had its worst day in 19 months on Thursday after slumping 5.5%. Chip stocks led the slump, with the memory maker SanDisk tumbling 22% and the hard drive maker Western Digital falling 17%.

Wall Street’s “fear index”, the Vix, jumped 61% to its highest levels since the early weeks of the Iran war, in a sign of rising market volatility.

The heavy falls continued in Asia on Friday, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 index sinking 6% and South Korea’s Kospi index tumbling more than 8% in early trading.

Despite the sharp losses around the world, most indices are still up for the year. The Nasdaq Composite index remains 4.6% higher since the start of January, even though it sits more than 10% below its peak. Federal Reserve Economic Data showed the Nasdaq Composite at 24,315.0 as of Nov. 6.

The FTSE 100 has gained almost 6.9% in 2026, but it now sits more than 300 points below the record high it set in July.